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Griffons split final home series of season
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
The Nevada Griffons wrapped up their final home stand of the season on Sunday, splitting a doubleheader with the Liberal BeeJays at Lyons Stadium.
The Griffons won the first game 3-2 behind a strong pitching performance by starter Bud Norris and a clutch home run by designated hitter Mickey Nichol.
Norris (4-1) pitched six of the seven innings played, allowing five hits and three walks while striking out six. He was in a groove throughout, only giving up a two-run homer by Liberal center fielder Joseph Harris in the fifth inning.
Harris ripped a pitch up in the zone, well over the 400-foot marker in left-center field.
The home run tied the score at two, but it did not stay that way for long as Nichol answered with two outs in the bottom of the inning, hitting a solo shot to right.
Nichol, who leads the team in both batting average (.362) and hits (51), ended up with the game-winning hit, as Norris and closer Hurston Pittman combined to keep the BeeJays off the board for the final two innings.
The Griffons had jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by scoring a couple in the first inning.
Walks by Kory Drew and Zach Harris sandwiched around a single by Nichol, loaded the bases for Nevada against Liberal starter Jake Baxter (3-2). Nick Shay singled to score Drew and Nichol and give the Griffons an early lead.
The Griffons threatened to score more as a Ryan Bowerman singled to load the bases again, but Brian Nolte and Elliott Roberts both struck out to end the inning.
Baxter settled down from there, retiring 10 of 11 batters at one point (with a Nichol single as the only blemish) before the third-year Griffon from Penn State hit the home run in the fifth.
"Mickey hit the ball very well today in both games," Nevada coach Jeff Wells said after watching Nichol collect five hits in seven at bats during his final two home games as a Griffon.
"He's been our most consistent hitter all year. Tonight was no different."
In the second game both teams came to life at the plate.
The BeeJays simpy had too much firepower though as shortstop Cory Zimmerman hit a pair of three-run homers to lead them to a 13-7 victory.
Zimmerman's home runs were half of the BeeJays' four in the second game, as right fielder Michael McCallister and third baseman Matt Downs both joined in the derby.
Derik Drewitt (3-5) took the loss in relief, allowing each of the Liberal home runs in his 3 2-3 innings of work. Dillon Farish (1-2) got the victory for Liberal, also in relief.
The game went back and forth to start, with the BeeJays jumping out to a lead and the Griffons catching them.
It started with two runs in the top of the first, both off starter Mark Fernandez.
After a scoreless bottom of the inning, the BeeJays doubled their lead in the second, taking advantage of two Nevada errors and a walk to push across both runs despite only managing one hit.
The Griffons answered this time, scoring two of their own behind a two-run double by catcher Beau Shultz. Roberts and Shay were the two Griffons who scored on Shultz's hit down the right-field line.
In the third inning the Griffons trimmed the deficit to one when Drew singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Nichol.
That left the game at 4-3 going into the fourth inning when the BeeJays regained their two-run lead on the back of three singles.
Nevada tied it in the bottom of the inning scraping together two runs on a couple of fielders choices by Shultz and Trevor Helms.
In the fifth the BeeJays scored on McCallister's homer to take a 6-5 lead, but the Griffons battled back in the bottom half thanks to a two-run single by Bowerman.
Zach Harris had singled and Shay had doubled prior to Bowerman's hit with nobody out in the inning. A line-out, ground out and strike out after Bowerman reached, ended the threat though with the right fielder still on base.
The Nevada lead was short-lived however, as Zimmerman hit his first homer off Drewitt after a walk and an error put two on base.
That made the score 9-7. Drewitt settled down to retire the next three in order to end the inning.
In the seventh Liberal broke the game open when Downs homered, and after a walk and hit batter Zimmerman again went yard to give the final margin of 13-7.
The final seven runs for the BeeJays were scored on a total of three hits, all home runs.
Wells said that the game was decided by two mistakes made to Zimmerman, both ending up on the wrong side of the fence.
"We made two mistakes to him and he hit them very, very hard. Credit that guy," Wells said.
The coach was not happy to lose the final home game, but was satisfied with the effort given by his team.
"We battled back all night," he said.
Nevada now sits at 26-19 overall, 12-16 in Jayhawk League play. Liberal is 20-23 overall, 11-17 in league action.
The Griffons now must travel to Hays to finish the regular season with a four-game series.The first game in that series is tonight.